On the afternoon of July 5th, a seminar on “Net Zero Emissions in Hong Kong Road Transportation,” jointly organized by iCET and Civic Exchange, with the support of City University of Hong Kong, was successfully held in Hong Kong. Representatives from key stakeholders in Hong Kong’s road transportation sector, including major bus companies such as Kowloon Motor Bus and CityBus, representatives from automotive companies Volvo Bus Hong Kong and Wisdom Motors, a representative from Swire Coca-Cola, and delegates from infrastructure and consulting firms Hilti and Trans-Consult, gathered for this significant event.
iCET continues to conduct research under the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Net Zero Carbon Emission Transportation Roadmap” project, focusing on the transportation sector in Guangdong Province and the Greater Bay Area. The project aims to develop roadmaps and policy recommendations for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by the years 2050/2060, expediting the electrification and decarbonization of transportation in the Greater Bay Area.
Road transportation, characterized by high emission proportions and complexities in ownership and usage scenarios, stands out as one of the most critical sectors for emission reduction. Due to differences in societal systems, the process of achieving net-zero emissions in road transportation in the Hong Kong and Macao regions differs significantly from other cities in the Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong, for instance, has set a goal to cease the registration of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. As the integration of the Greater Bay Area accelerates, collaborative challenges arise in the coordination of road transportation among the three regions. Against this backdrop, the project team organized the seminar on “Net Zero Emissions in Hong Kong Road Transportation” to explore strategies for expediting the net-zero emissions process.
At the opening of the seminar, Professor Chen Guohua, Dean of the School of Energy and Environment at City University of Hong Kong, delivered a welcoming address, expressing warm greetings to all attendees. Dr. An Feng, Executive Director of iCET, provided a comprehensive overview of the project’s background, emphasizing the significance of Hong Kong as a core city in the Greater Bay Area for the transformation towards net-zero emissions in transportation.
Ms. Wang Wenwen, Project Manager at the iCET, presented an overview of the current status of the transformation towards net-zero emissions in road transportation in the Pearl River Delta region. She highlighted notable achievements, such as the complete electrification of public buses and the adoption of 100% electric vehicles for new and replacement fleets in the taxi and ride-hailing sectors. Groundbreaking progress was also noted in applications such as sanitation, urban logistics, ports, and construction waste management.
While the Hong Kong government has set a target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, specific implementation roadmaps and plans seem to be lacking. Representatives from Hong Kong enterprises at the seminar indicated that, due to unique road conditions and societal systems, Hong Kong cannot replicate mainland China’s practices and needs to further explore local approaches to electrification. For example, the hilly terrain of Hong Kong’s roads renders conventional hybrid vehicles ineffective in achieving desired energy efficiency. Additionally, factors such as the high procurement costs of electric buses, inadequate range to meet operational needs, and a severe lack of charging infrastructure were identified as core considerations hindering enterprises from undertaking the electrification transformation.
It was noted that the Hong Kong government has established the “New Energy Transport Fund,” providing subsidies for electric vehicle trials and operations to businesses. The subsidy cap for each application is HKD 10 million, and enterprises are required to submit operational data within 12 months of vehicle purchase for government review before subsidy disbursement.
